Hey guys, I decided to make a thread to call attention to one of our major features here, the Game Database. I'll probably bump it from time to time to let everyone know about new hot games that have been added that you can add to your collections or rate.

First, let me explain a few things about rating games and adding them to your collection. Everyone (yes, even you -1ers!) can rate games and add them to your collection. This is a pretty simple process. Go up to the menu above and select GAMES -> Game Database, or just CLICK HERE. You will see a list of titles you can browse, and you can also search for specific titles with the search feature at the top, and even add games you can't find with the little bar at the top right above the search functionality that says "Submit a Game (keywords)". To add a game to your collection you check the box under "Owned" next to the game, and to rate it you select a number under "You" (you can add without rating and vice versa, if you want to). You can do one game or a whole page at a time, and when you are ready to submit your collection and ratings updates, click the "CLICK TO UPDATE THIS PAGE OF YOUR COLLECTION AND RATINGS" bar that can be found at either the top or bottom. Simple!

You can also rate games and add them to your collection from the individual game pages that you access when you click on any game from the main game page. For instance, if you were on the Mario Party 6 page there is a box in the top right where you can add it to your collection or rate it and click the "PUSH" button to update.

Now, let me explain something about writing game reviews. Again, everyone (yes, even you -1ers!) can write reviews for the site. This is a pretty simple process. Like before, go up to the menu above and select GAMES -> Game Database (or just CLICK HERE. Select the game you want to review (you can use the search at the top to find games quickly) and click on it. Near the top right of the page for that individual game you will see "Add a review" with a little plus next to it. Click the plus, write your review, choose a score (or not, if you don't like scoring reviews) and submit. Easy as pie!

And don't worry about not being formal enough, or sticking to a specific review format, or whatever. As long as you can write a paragraph or two and put your thoughts into a semi-coherent form, everything is good. Also, reviews of older games are totally acceptable, for instance I recently posted a WarioWare: Twisted! review of mine that I wrote like 6 years ago or whatever.

I gave Metroid: Other M a 9, while not as good at the Prime games (well, maybe better than Prime 2), it was still a good Metroid game as far as the gameplay goes. The story was a nice touch, though in the beginning I was VERY skeptical and I was rolling my eyes at some of the lines, but as the game went on, I started to enjoy it, especially the many twists they added that weren't obvious at all. I really didn't see them coming.

@Simbabbad Nah, Prime was pretty much the most brilliant game ever made when it debuted, and people are, of course, going to judge things based off of their own experience, which in the case of these big name games, generally took place around the time of the release of the game. Whether Prime 2 topped it or not (I don't think it did) doesn't really take away from the near revolutionary nature of the scope and execution of the original.

It depends though, it's a question of "does this game pass the test of time?" and I don't necessarily think that automatically connects directly to quality. For instance, back in the days I'd put The Legend of Zelda over Super Mario Brothers as I think many others would. Whether it deserves to be or not, whatever, the point is it was an absolutely stunning game. But right now? I can go back to Super Mario Brothers much easier. I know people disagree with me, but in general I don't think The Legend of Zelda aged as well. Yet I don't think that takes away from how amazing of a game it was and when it comes to rating it, I tend to rate it based on all of the hours and hours of amazing gameplay it gave me at the time.

Actually, I think for NES era pure action games tend to age better than adventure/RPG/etc. games in general. Like Contra, that will never, ever get old. But I'm probably not going to want to go back and play the first Final Fantasy anytime soon.

Anyway this is getting slightly away from my point, because I don't think Echoes is better than Prime even disregarding time. But really, this disagreement goes back to our disagreement on the Super Metroid formula. I think it is the best formula ever made, whereas you think it is great but others can stand up with it. Which is fine. But to be honest, a lot of the things I didn't like about Echoes were related to them moving further away from that formula. It's not like I want a super predictable game, but certain things about it really didn't click as much with me me, like the fact that the worlds didn't really interconnect to each other, the fact that the map showed you every room, the ammo for the alternative weapons, etc. I also thought the boss fights were weaker (and way too drawn out in some cases), though the mini-boss fights were better. Puzzles were definitely better though. Some give and take, but in the end, I go back to Prime more than I do Prime 2.

Anyway, I feel dirty arguing this because Prime 2 is one of my favorite games since the SNES, if not ever. It's just that Prime is even more one of my favorite games.

I usually prefer to judge games based on how much fun I find them to be today. I'll acknowledge their historical significance and all, but I'm judging a game based on how much I myself enjoy it. If one were to do otherwise, then you'd come up with a list of game ratings similar to what Metacritic or IGN's best-of lists often look like.

Uh, just forget I said today. It's more like, since the last time I played the game. Or... it's just how I feel about those games at the moment. I do go back and change scores for games if I start to like them more or less than I once did.

Well... my memory isn't good enough to warp back in time, but I think how I feel about a game now is generally how I feel about it when I put the bulk of time into it. That's not to say I'd want to play it that much now, just that when I'm thinking up a score or whatever.

I sort of struggled with ratings when I was entering them. Trying to compare, say, Metroid Prime with Balloon Fight (guess which one won?) is a tough task. Determining whether to consider how good each game was for its time or just to look at all games through the harsh lens of modern perspective. Deciding whether to attempt to filter out the nostalgia.

In the end, I just decided to rate each game based upon the level of fondness that I remember having for it.

It kind of doesn't matter, since we aren't all following the same scoring systems, anyway.